An Interesting Encounter
by turtlegirl42
Summary: When the Enterprise-D encounters a mysterious ship, they don't realize that they've gotten themselves into an interesting and dangerous adventure... Now updated.
1. The Encounter

**Author's Note:** This is my first crossover. I think that there are not enough Star Wars or Star Trek fanfiction (or crossovers, for that matter) so I decided to write one. Read on…!

Chapter One—The Encounter

**300 Hours**

Data sighed, drumming his fingers on the desk. It was a human gesture he had picked up from his best friend, Geordi LaForge.

Next to Data on the desk were several large piles of books that Commander Riker had lent him. _101 Funny Jokes_, one read. _Dirty Humor_, another read. Some of the other titles included _Jokes to Make a Vulcan Laugh, Knock-Knock Jokes,_ and_ The Greatest Riddles of the Centuries. _Data just didn't get it. The riddles were…interesting, to be sure. But Data did not understand any of the jokes. Why a person's rear end could be funny was beyond him. Humans. Data just did not understand them. He petted his cat, Spot. "What should I do now?" he asked it. The cat purred, rubbing against him.

Data decided to go to the Holodeck. As it was 300 hours, there were very few people walking the corridors. Data did not expect there to be. After all, most of the ship was asleep at this hour. Data entered the turbolift, heading for Deck Nine.

"All senior officers, please report to the bridge immediately," Data's comm chirped.

"Affirmative, Captain," Data replied. "Computer, alter course to the bridge."

While in the turbolift, Data wondered what this was about. What could merit all of the crew reporting to the bridge at 300 hours? Right now, the Enterprise-D was on a course for Starbase 22 to trade some replicators for parts for engineering. Surely something must have come up. Or maybe it was something else…

* * *

"What is going on, Captain?" Data asked, taking his usual seat on the bridge. No one else had arrived yet.

Captain Picard sighed. "Ensign Koby woke me up to tell me that _that_ ship just got out of warp," he said, pointing at the viewscreen.

Indeed, there _was _a ship on the viewscreen. It was quite small, compared to the Enterprise-D. It looked to be about the size of a Federation freighter ship. It was a silverish-grey color, and shaped like a disk. There were two parts at the front that veered inward. Data presumed that was where the command centers were on the ship. The ship was unlike any Data had ever seen before.

"That ship looks unfamiliar, Captain," Data said. "It is unlike anything I have ever seen."

"I know," Captain Picard replied. "They could be hostile. This is a very serious matter."

"Indeed, Captain," Data agreed.

The rest of the crew began to slowly file into the bridge. They all looked very tired. Commander Riker yawned, sitting down next to the captain. "So, what's the problem, Captain?" Riker said tiredly.

Captain Picard stood up. "I apologize for getting you all out of bed, but an unknown ship just came out of warp," he said, pointing at the viewscreen.

"There are no Federation markings on this ship. It seems to be an unmarked vessel," Data noted.

"What should we do, Captain?" Counselor Troi asked. "It doesn't seem to be a hostile ship. In fact, the occupants seem to be almost…afraid of us."

"Let's get our intentions cleared up," Captain Picard said. "Hail that ship, Worf."

"Hailing, sir," Worf said, pressing a few buttons. After a long pause, Worf said, "Sir, they've opened up a link."

"On-screen."

The screen instantly showed the inside of the possible hostile ship. The center of the screen showed a human male wearing a strange type of uniform. To the right of him was a rather hairy-looking alien that looked to be twice the size of the human. The crew of the Enterprise could see other figures moving in the background.

"This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise," Captain Picard said like he always did. "Please state your reasons for warping into Federation space."

A look of utter confusion stole over the man's face for a second and his eyes widened. The hairy alien roared. "I know, I know!" the man snapped at the alien. The alien made an unintelligible response. Regaining his composure, the man said, "This is Captain Han Solo of the Millennium Falcon. Can we explain our situation?"

* * *

I hope it's all right so far. Please review!


	2. Millennium Falcon, Meet the Enterprise D

**Author's Note:** First of all, thank you for the reviews. Second of all, I would like to note that the following chapter is from the viewpoint of the people on the Millennium Falcon (namely Han Solo, our favorite smuggler). Also, I forgot to include a disclaimer in the first chapter (gasp!) so that is right below. In addition, there is a couple swear words in this chapter, so you have been warned. Read on…!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the character from either Star Trek or Star Wars. (Although I'd like to own Han Solo and/or Data. :P)

* * *

**Chapter Two: **_**Millennium Falcon, **_**Meet the **_**Enterprise-D**_

* * *

Han Solo drummed his fingers on the panels, struggling to keep his eyes open. Blast, it was late… Everyone except Chewie and himself were asleep. And yet, they had to get to Hoth within twenty-four hours, or Mon Mothma would be one pissed Rebel leader.

Chewie growled next to him. *Don't worry, Han, it's only a few more hours. And besides, if you really need to sleep, you can always put it on autopilot.*

"Thanks, Chewie," Han said, taking another sip of his coffee. "Another half an hour and we can go into hyperspace."

"Hi Han. Fall asleep yet?"

"For your information, Luke, no, I haven't." Han swiveled in the chair and pressed a few buttons on the console. "We should reach the hyperspace point in a few minutes."

Han slowed down the _Millennium Falcon_, stopping it a the hyperspace coordinates.

"Blast! What _is_ that?"

"What is that…thing?"

*What is that in front of us?*

"On second thought," Han said, "That looks like a nebula. But it shouldn't be here. In fact," he said, punching a few buttons, "our systems have no record of it even being in this area."

"Maybe it moved," Luke said.

"The last time I knew, nebulas _didn't_ move," the smuggler shot back.

Han sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It looks like we're going to have to go through it."

*That could be dangerous,* Chewie warned.

"Doesn't look like we have a choice. It'd take a few days to go around it, and we don't have that kind of time, do we?"

There was a long and slightly awkward pause. "Yeah, I thought so," Han said smartly. "Shields up," he told Chewie.

Luke gave Han a skeptical glance. Han glared right back. "Listen," he said, "I know you usually don't trust my judgment, but you're going to have to believe in me this time. If we can get through the nebula without destroying our shields, and I'm pretty sure we can, Hoth will be waiting for us on the other side."

Luke shrugged. "I suppose you've never steered us wrong before, Han. It's safe to assume that you won't get us killed this time." He turned to leave, but Han stopped him. "Oh, and Luke? Don't go waking up the Princess until _after_ we've reached Hoth."

"Um, okay. I'm going to bed now."

"Sweet dreams," Han said sarcastically.

He turned to look at Chewie. "Well, it looks like it's smooth sailing from here, huh?"

Chewie agreed half-heartedly.

* * *

*Han, wake up.*

"Wha?" Han looked up. They were still in hyperdrive inside the nebula.

*According to our systems, we're nearing the end of the nebula.*

Han sat up, instantly alert. He put his headphones on.

"Any damage to the shields?" he asked.

*None at all.*

"That's strange," Han mused. "Usually nebulas trash our shields."

*I know. This must be a special nebula.*

Han chuckled. "Maybe," he said. "Going out of hyperdrive," he noted, pulling down a few levers and coming out of the nebula into regular space.

But this was…different space. Han noticed instantly that the stars were out of alignment.

"Chewie, check our coordinates. I think we're off course."

After a minute, Chewie said worriedly, *Han. You've got to see this.*

"What?" Han looked over at Chewie's console. The screen was black, totally blank. The only thing on the screen was letters flashing. "COORDINATES NOT FOUND," they said. "Uh, oh, that can't be good," Han said. "Let me check the other systems."

"Um, this is bad. Really bad."

*What's bad?*

Han swore. "Our systems! Our weapons systems, hyperdrive, sensors…all of our systems have crashed! Shields are still intact, though."

*You're right. This _is _bad.*

Han sighed. "I better go wake everyone up. The Princessness is _not_ going to be happy…" he grumbled.

* * *

A few minutes later, everyone (except the droids, of course) was assembled and discussing the "situation," as Han called it.

"This isn't good, guys. We're going to be late to Hoth," Luke whined.

"You don't think I know that?" Han exclaimed. "I'm going to work as fast as I can to get the _Falcon _running again. I don't even know where we are, and we're just a sitting bantha for any Imperial ship that decides to pass by."

"Is _that_ an Imperial ship?" Luke asked, pointing out the window.

Han yelped, then furrowed his brow in frustration.

There was a huge ship looming over them. It was hard to describe, that was for sure. Han was also sure that this wasn't an Imperial ship.

"That's no Imperial ship," Han told Luke angrily. "Thanks for nearly giving me a heart attack."

"If it's not Imperial, then what is it?" Leia countered.

Han grimaced. "Probably pirates."

"But it _can't_ be pirates," Luke argued. "That ship is _way_ too large for even a pirate battle station."

"Well, I don't know what it is then," Han said.

"It could be a new Imperial model," Leia offered.

At this point, Han exploded and exclaimed, "I don't care if it's the friggin' Ewoks! I have a ship to repair. If we leave it alone, the people on that ship should have the same courtesy, too." Han picked up his tool kit and stormed off.

"But what if they attacked us? Or try to comm us?" Luke asked Leia.

"I don't know," Leia said. "The best advice is to leave Han alone while he has his temper tantrum. I'm going to activate the droids," she said. "Maybe they know something we don't."

* * *

Han, meanwhile, was working on the hyperdrive with Chewie. He was a little peeved. It wasn't like he had enough trouble, being stranded in the middle of space with most of his systems down. Oh, no. He had to deal with Luke being cranky and whiny, _plus_ he had to deal with a huge ship that looked like it could destroy the _Millennium Falcon_ with a single shot.

"Captain Solo? Can I be of any assistance?"

That pesky droid! Who had activated him? "_No_, Threepio," he said. "Now go away!" He threw a wrench at the golden droid.

"Ouch! Master Luke is going to hear about this!" Threepio exclaimed, hobbling away.

Han got back to work…

* * *

A few minutes later, Leia climbed into Han's workspace. Han put his tools away and gave the princess a lopsided smile.

"What is it, Your Highnessness?" Han asked.

"I just thought you should know that we're being hailed. You know, by that huge ship?" she said huffily. "Oh, and by the way," she added, "stop throwing things at Threepio! He has a huge dent in him now."

Han quickly climbed out of the hyperdrive, motioning to Chewie to follow.

Once in the cockpit, however, he hesitated.

"Just answer it," Luke urged. "It's not like we have anything to lose."

"Fine," Han grumbled, opening a comm channel. "At least the comm still works."

There was no visual, but an accented man's voice came over the comm. "This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise," the voice said. "Please state your reasons for warping into Federation space."

Han looked at Chewie. Federation? Warping? Chewie said, *This captain seems possibly dangerous. Ask him what the Federation is."

"Yeah, okay," Han said to Chewie. Leaning in towards the comm, he said calmly, "This is Captain Han Solo of the _Millennium Falcon_. Can we explain our situation?"

There was a long pause on the other end. Then that Captain Picard said resignedly, "Go ahead."

"Alright. First of all, are you Imperial?" Han asked. Everyone, even the droids, were now crowded around the comm.

There was another long pause. "I don't understand," the other captain said. "What is this 'Imperial' that you speak of?"

Han sighed with relief. "Never mind. As for our situation, we hyperspaced through a nebula to get to Hoth. Instead of reaching Hoth, we ended up here, and most of our systems are down. Is there any way you can help us?"

The captain paused a minute again. Then he said, "Yes, I believe we can. Land your ship in Docking Bay 3."

"But where _is_ Docking Bay 3?"

"I'm going to let my science officer direct you there. I look forward to meeting you, Captain Solo."

The comm clicked off, then clicked on again. "They must have separate comms," Luke whispered.

Another person's voice came over the comm. It was a male's voice, upbeat yet lacking any emotion.

"Welcome, Captain Solo," the voice said. "I am Lieutenant Commander Data. I will be giving you directions to Docking Bay 3."

"Shoot," Han said. What kind of name was Data, anyway?

"I do not understand," Data said. "What do you want me to shoot, and why?"

"I _meant _go ahead," Han said, exsasperated.

"Affirmative," Data said. "Direct your ship towards the Enterprise."

"Roger," Han replied, motioning for everyone to get out of the cockpit and starting the _Millenium Falcon_'s engines.

Data sounded confused again. "Who is Roger?" he asked quizzically.

Han was getting really angry. "Roger means 'affirmative,' okay?!?"

"I apologize, Captain," Data said. "Do you see an opening in the disc of the Enterprise?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Manuver your ship into that opening, and there should be a space for you to land safely there. The crew of the Enterprise will be waiting for you at the Docking Bay." Data closed the comm channel.

Han pulled into the docking bay. Everyone on the _Millenium Falcon _was silent with anticipation and anxiety.

* * *

What do you think so far? Don't forget to review, please!


	3. First Contact

**Author's Note: **I'd like to thank the following people for giving me reviews: **Scott the Wanderer, Sharnorasian Empire, Itak2003, **and **Dusel.** Thanks for the feedback, folks! Anyway, there's no need to waste more time, so read on…!

* * *

Chapter Three—First Contact

* * *

The crew of the Enterprise-D went down to Docking Bay Three and anxiously awaited the arrival of the _Millennium Falcon_.

While they were waiting, the crew began to discuss why this ship was here and what it was doing in this section of space.

"Maybe this ship is from another galaxy," Data mused.

"That could be probable," Riker countered. "But how could they possibly get this far?"

"Unless they had technology far superior to our own," Dr. Beverly Crusher pointed out.

"Or, in theory," Geordi LaForge said, "There are such anomalies such as inter-dimensional wormholes. That could be the 'nebula' Captain Solo was talking about."

"These are all excellent theories," Captain Picard noted. "But it would be wise to remember that this ship could still be hostile. We should all be on our guard."

"Look," Worf stated, pointing. "The _Millennium Falcon_ is coming in."

A hush descended over the crew as the ship landed in the docking bay. The _Millennium Falcon_ was larger than they had expected; about five times the size of a Federation-class shuttle. The ramp on the ship lowered, and the person the crew assumed was Captain Han Solo walked down on it, a strange gun-like weapon cocked in one hand. He was flanked by several other people and aliens.

* * *

"Well, guys," Han said, pulling into the docking bay, "This is it."

"Look!" Luke said, pointing at some figures standing in the docking bay. "It's the crew of the Enterprise-D."

"No duh, Luke," the smuggler said, squinting at the figures. "What the_ hell_ are they wearing?"

"Looks like uniforms," Leia said.

"Hmm…whatever," Han said, expertly landing the _Millennium Falcon_ into the landing area and shutting off the engines. Han took out his blaster and cocked it in his hand. "Chewie, get your crossbow ready."

"Han!" Luke chided. "I thought we agreed that they were _friendly_."

"Yeah, well, you should never trust strange ships. Trust me, I know. C'mon, let's go."

Han strided down the ramp, followed by Chewie, Luke, Leia, and the droids. The crew standing in front of them seemed very strange (to Han's standards, anyway). The Corellian could see their uniforms more clearly now. They were mostly black, with the torso area various colors, depending on the person in question. There were buttons on their collars (Han assumed this stood for rank), and they all wore pins on their uniforms shaped slightly like stars. All of the crewmembers were men, except for two women. Han could tell most of them were of alien races. _What a rag-tag crew if I ever saw one_, he thought. They all looked warily at Han and the rest of his crew. One of the crewmembers, a dark-skinned alien with a yellow uniform and a strange belt over it, pulled out a strange-looking weapon and aimed it at Han. No one else seemed to notice.

A balding human male stepped forward. The color of his uniform was red, and he had quite a few buttons on his collar. Han held out his hand (he assumed they did handshakes. He sure hoped so). "I'm assuming you're Captain Picard?" he asked.

To his surprise, the captain gave Han a firm handshake, smiled, and said, "You assume correctly, Captain Solo." Seeing the weapon in Han's other hand, Captain Picard's face fell to a strict frown, and he stated in a business-like tone, "Could you please put away your weapons? We're not going to hurt you."

Han was unfazed. "Sure, sure," he said nonchalantly. "As soon as_ your _guy puts away_ his_ weapon."

The other captain whipped his head, looking at the alien crewmember in question. "Lieutenant Worf, please put that phaser away," he snapped.

'Worf' lowered his head and immediately put his 'phaser' away. Han and Chewie, likewise, set their weapons back in their holsters.

"Let us continue with introductions," Captain Picard said as though nothing had happened in the slightest.

"My crew first," Han said. Pointing to himself, he said, "You already know who I am, but I'm Captain Han Solo, and I'm from Corellia."

Chewie roared. Han, translating, stated, "This is Chewbacca. His friends call him Chewie."

Leia stepped forward. "I'm Princess Leia Organa, and my home planet was Alderaan." Counsler Troi noticed that the young woman stated that her home planet _was_ Alderaan. _What had happened to the planet?_ she wondered.

Luke stepped forward. "I'm Luke Skywalker, and my home planet is Tatooine."

Han grinned. "What about your crew? Captains first," he smirked.

"Excuse the interruption," an extremely pale officer stated, "but you appear to be forgetting someone." He pointed to the two droids. To the crewmen of the Enterprise, they looked like highly advanced robots. One of them was golden, and stood on two feet. The other robot was cylinder-shaped, appeared to have wheels, and was covered in buttons.

Han waved a hand. "Oh, them? Those are just the droids. They're not that important."

"Han!" Leia chided. She walked over to the droids. "This is—"

The golden 'droid' cut her off. "I'm C-3P0!" he exclaimed. The smaller droid made a whistling sound. "Oh, and this is R2-D2," 'C-3P0' added.

Captain Picard nodded. "I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and my home planet is Earth." He pointed to a bearded man, also in a red uniform, who stepped forward. "This is my second-in-command, Commander William Riker, also from Earth."

The pale crewmember came forward. "My name is Lieutenant Commander Data," he said, nodding curtly. Luke noticed that Data did not state his home planet, like the rest of the crew. This was out of place… Also out of place was that Luke did not even register Data as a biological life-form through the Force. _Definitely out of place. I'm going to have to look into this_, he thought.

The dark-skinned alien who had pulled out the phaser came forward. "My name is Lieutenant Worf," he intoned.

Another dark-skinned man with a strange device over his eyes came forward. "My name is Commander Geordi LaForge, and I am from Earth.

One of the women, a woman with red hair and light green on her uniform, stepped forward. "I am Doctor Beverly Crusher, and I too come from Earth."

The last person, another woman, came forth. Her uniform was much different than all the other crewmen, made from a shiny material. She had no buttons on her collar. "My name is Counselor Deanna Troi," she said in a silky voice, "and I am from the planet Betazed." Luke felt the Force flowing through her very strongly. _I must speak to her also_, he thought.

Captain Picard nodded. "That's it for introductions, I think. Now, you mentioned that you ship's systems are down, Captain Solo?"

"Yeah, most of my systems are down. It'd be great if I could have some help fixing it. It would take days for Chewie and me to fix the hyperdrive alone."

"Of course we'll help," the captain of the Enterprise stated. "I'll have Commander LaForge help you fix your systems. He is an excellent engineer."

Geordi shook hands with Han. "I'd be glad to help," he said. _I can't wait to see what their 'hyperdrive' is_, he thought excitedly.

Han shifted his feet. "I suppose you all have work to do, so we're just…uh…going to start repairing the _Millennium Falcon_."

"On the contrary," Captain Picard said. "We are not that busy at this time, as we were en route to Starbase 22. We'd be more than happy to give you a tour and assign you temporary quarters."

Luke's face lit up. "Quarters would be nice," he said. "It's pretty cramped for the four of us and the droids."

"It's settled, then. Commander Data, can you give our guests a tour of the ship?"

Data nodded. "Of course, Captain."

"Worf, please assign new quarters for our guests."

"Affirmative, sir," Worf said, walking away.

Captain Picard nodded again and smiled. "We welcome you to the Enterprise-D, Captain Solo and your crew," he said, shaking hands with everyone before leaving the docking bay.

Data motioned to the crew of the _Millennium Falcon_.

"Follow me, please," he said, leading them out of the docking bay.

* * *

**Author's Note: **And so we come to an end of another chapter. Next chapter comes the tour of the Enterprise, and a rather important meeting of the senior officers…! Thank you for reading, and don't forget to review!


	4. The Tour

Author's Note: I've finally posted!! I know, it's been awhile. But bear with me here; I will update as often as I possibly can. Thank you for all of the helpful reviews, everyone; I really appreciate them. Also, I'd like to thank user solarmoon59 for helping me out with this fan fiction. Anyway, let us continue the story…

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Four: The Tour

After meeting the new visitors in the docking bay along with the rest of the crew, Data was requested by the captain to give them a tour of the Enterprise. He supposed he was the ambassador now, however unofficial that was. _I guess Captain Picard doesn't trust them_, he thought.

Data was interested in all of the crew, especially the two 'droids.' It seemed that they were artificial life forms also, and the android was interested to find out more about them.

He led them out of the docking bay, deciding to show Captain Solo and his crew the bridge first. Of course, he would have to ask Captain Picard's permission. Data pressed his comm. "Captain?"

Picard's voice came crackling through as always. "Yes, what is it, Data?"

"Permission to bring our guests on the bridge, sir."

"Permission granted," Picard replied, ending the conversation with a resounding click.

At this point, Data noticed that the crew of _The Millennium Falcon_ were all staring at him curiously and immediately assumed what it was about. "This is my communicator," he explained, pointing to his badge. "It allows me to contact other members of the ship."

"That's a really interesting piece of technology," the young man known as Luke Skywalker replied. He held out a hand. "May I see it, please?" he asked politely.

"Of course," Data replied, taking it off his uniform and handing it to the young man.

Luke turned over the badge in his hand, studying it with awe and interest. Finally handing the badge back to the android, he asked, "What does the symbol stand for?"

"The symbol stands for Starfleet, the organization that trains officers to work on starships such as this one," Data replied.

Luke and the others just stood there for a minute. Then Data stated, "Let us begin the tour." He began to briskly walk down the corridor. The others quickly caught up with him.

"Say," Han said, moving up so that he was alongside the android, "what is the bridge?"

"It is where we are going now," Data said, stopping in front of a turbolift. "It is the command center for the entire ship. Many important decisions are made there, and it is where the senior officers, including the captain, work."

The turbolift doors opened. "There is _no_ way we are all going to fit in there," Princess Leia said skeptically.

Han peered into the turbolift. "_Definitely_ not," he decreed.

Data blinked and nodded. "We shall just have to make several trips. The turbolift is voice activated, so you just tell the computer where you want to go."

Data, Han, and Chewbacca entered the turbolift. "Bridge," Data said, and the elevator began to move.

A minute or two later, all of the crew, plus the science officer of the _Enterprise_, were on the bridge.

To Data, the bridge was a familiar and welcoming sight. But to the others, it was an amazing scene. Various people in uniforms sat at work stations around the bridge, a large, circular sloping room. There were three tan seats in the middle, facing a very large window that showed twinkling stars against an expanse of black sky.

The android led them down to an empty space next to the three chairs. Captain Solo nodded approvingly. "I'm very impressed," he told the science officer.

Just then Captain Picard walked into the bridge from a side door, sitting down in the middle chair. "So, what do you think of the bridge, Captain Solo?"

Captain Solo nodded his approval. "Like I just told your officer, I'm very impressed," he told the other captain.

Leia smiled. "You should be proud, Captain—it takes a lot to impress Han," she told Captain Picard.

"Yeah, we should make Rebellion ships like this," Luke piped up, confusing both Captain Picard and Commander Data with the word 'Rebellion.'

Data turned to lead the crew off the bridge, but Captain Picard stopped Luke with a hand. "There will be more time for questions later, but may I ask just one?"

"Sure."

"Are your peoples…at war?"

Luke thought for half a second, and then nodded. "Yes, we are," he said.

The captain nodded solemnly. "Thank you."

* * *

They left the bridge, walking silently down the corridors after another ride on the turbolift. Both parties wanted to ask questions, but were too nervous to ask. Finally, Han broke the silence by asking, "Where are we going now, _Commander_?"

Data either did not catch the sarcasm or did not understand it. "We are going to Engineering, Captain. Then we will meet with Doctor Crusher in Sickbay."

When they reached Engineering, Geordi LaForge was there to greet them. "Hey, Data!" he said cheerily. "What brings you down…oh, hello, Captain Solo! Are you giving them a tour?" he asked Data.

"Yes, I am. If you remember correctly, Geordi, the Captain requested me to do so."

"Oh…right. Hey, would you like me to show them the warp core?"

"I am sure they would enjoy that," the android replied.

Geordi led Han Solo and the others to a very tall object. It was taller than any of them, and had work stations situated around it. The object consisted of several blue, pulsating tubes.

"This is the warp core," Geordi explained. "It runs our ship, and gives it the power to go to warp speed."

While Data answered questions, Geordi pulled Han Solo aside. "I was wondering, Captain," he said, "when would be the best time for me to start working on your ship with you?"

"You're a bit eager, aren't you?" Han asked. Seeing Geordi's face at that remark, he laughed. "It's fine. You can meet me sometime tomorrow afternoon."

Geordi smiled and nodded. "I'll see you then," he said.

With that, Han re-joined the group and Data led them out of Engineering and into Sickbay.

* * *

The red-haired doctor jovially greeted the crew of _The Millennium Falcon_. "Why hello, Captain Solo," she said. "How do you like the Enterprise?"

"It's…" Han replied, trying to find the right word.

"It highly exceeds our standards," Luke interrupted. Everyone else agreed.

"Well, there isn't much to see," Dr. Crusher said, changing the subject. "If you're feeling ill, or are injured in any way at all, just come down here. That's all you really need to know, and—"

Just then, a teenaged boy came into Sickbay. "Hi, Mom, what's…whoa!" His eyes widened. "Who_ are_ these people?"

"Oh, Captain Solo, this is my son, Wesley. Wes, this is Captain Han Solo and his crew. They'll be staying on the Enterprise temporarily, so you may see them around the ship."

"Um, okay! See you later, Mom!" Wesley dashed out of Sickbay as fast as his legs could carry him.

Doctor Crusher laughed uneasily. "I think you scared him," she chided.

"Oops," Han said, smirking.

* * *

"Where are we going now?" Luke asked as they left Sickbay.

"I am now taking you to your quarters," the android replied. "If you would like, I can show you some of the ship's other highlights another time."

"Sounds good," Han said. "I'm exhausted."

They arrived at a door and they went inside, examining their new quarters. "This concludes our tour," the android stated. "I hope you enjoy your stay." Data left the room and began walking down the corridor. He was off-duty now, and he was going to make his way to Engineering, where maybe he could help Geordi with that malfunctioning computer panel…

"Hey, sir!" a voice called.

Data turned around to see Luke Skywalker standing there. "Um, sir? Can I talk to you?"

The android nodded. "Of course. I am sure you would like to ask me some questions."

Luke grinned. "Yeah, that's about right. Where are we going?"

"My quarters will be a suitable place to converse. Follow me, please."

While they were walking to said location, the android noticed a slim, cyndrical object hanging from the young man's belt.

"What is that?" Data asked inquisitively.

Luke frowned. "Um, I can't show you what it is right now, but it's my weapon."

Data nodded in understanding. "I see," he said.

Luke pointed to the object hanging from Data's belt. "And I'm assuming that's _your _weapon?" he asked.

"Yes, it is."

They said nothing more but entered Data's quarters. It was a little smaller than what Luke had seen, but it was basically the same.

A small, orange alien that walked on four feet came up to Data and made a strange sound, rubbing against the android's legs. Data picked up the alien, holding it in his arms. "This is Spot," he said. "She is a cat, an animal native to the planet Earth."

Luke reached over to touch the animal, and it bared its teeth and hissed menacingly at him.

Data set the cat down. "Unfortunately, she only seems to like me."

Both the android and the young man sat down.

"What is it you wished to speak with me about?" Data asked Luke.

"Um, I just wanted…to learn more about you. Are you human?"

The science officer shook his head. "No, I am not human, though I wish desperately to be so. I am an artificial life form, an android."

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Wow," he said. "Are you treated as an equal?"

Data nodded. "Yes, though I find it very difficult to understand human behavior. Now, may I possibly ask you a question?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Your 'droids,' they are artificially intelligent, correct?"

Luke saw where Data was going with this. "Yeah, they are. Threepio is a protocol droid, and Artoo is an astromech. They're both really smart." He paused. "If you'd like, you can chat with them. Threepio's pretty talkative."

"I would greatly enjoy that," the android replied. "But I have another question. What is it that 'astromech' and 'protocol' droids do?"

Luke shrugged. "Astromech droids repair equipment and ships. Protocol droids are used for translating, as servants, and for other tasks." The young Jedi chuckled. "Those droids are inseparable. You'll never see one without the other. Even if Threepio is complaining the whole way."

"So they are friends," Data stated.

"Yeah," Luke stood up. "I guess I'd better get going," he said, just as Data's comm beeped.

"Commander Data?" the captain asked.

"Yes, sir?"

"Are you done with the tour?"

"Almost, sir. I was having a discussion with Luke Skywalker," the android explained.

"Please finish up, Commander, and inform Captain Solo that his party must drop off their weapons at the weapons locker. Then please report to Conference Room One."

"Affirmative, Captain," Data replied, shutting off the comm. "We should return to your quarters," he told Luke.

Luke nodded. "Alright," he said. "But I'll show you my lightsaber first, since I have to drop it off anyway." He unsheathed the object from its belt.

"This was the weapon I asked you about?" Data inquired.

"Yeah." Luke pressed a button on the weapon. A blue, glowing blade shot out of the handle, making a whooshing, then a low humming sound. The young man's face was bathed in the glow of the beautiful weapon.

"That is an amazing piece of weaponry," Data said, reaching out to touch it.

"NO, DON'T—" Luke yelled, swinging the blade and accidently cutting Data's hand off, neatly searing it off at the wrist.

Luke looked incredulously at the pale hand on the floor. "Oh, shit," he said, looking extremely worried. "That must hurt really badly."

"On the contrary," Data replied. "I feel no pain, as I do not have pain receptors." He picked up his hand, staring at it curiously. "How interesting," he said, looking at his hand, then his empty wrist.

Luke shook his head. "Oh, man, I am in _so _much trouble now," he said, putting his head in his hands. "This is _not_ a good start for diplomatic relations. Everyone is going to be _so_ pissed."

Data attempted to comfort Luke by saying, "Do not worry. I am an android. This can be fixed quickly and easily."

Luke said nothing but, "Maybe we should go back now."

When Luke and Data arrived at Luke's quarters, they found Captain Solo and the others crowded around an object built into the wall.

Han noticed Data and asked, "Would you mind telling us what this is? Even Threepio's baffled."

"That is a replicator. Would you like me to show you how it works?"

All off them nodded eagerly.

"A replicator replicates food and other items. It is useful, for we often have limited resources."

Data stood in front of the replicator and stated, "Water." A glass of water materialized out of nowhere.

All of the guest crew was speechless, except for Threepio, who blurted out, "Amazing! I wonder how it works, Artoo."

The smaller droid made a whistling sound. "I have no idea," Threepio replied.

"I would be glad to tell you how it works, but unfortunately I have a meeting to attend to." Data informed them about their weapons, politely bade a goodbye, and left.

Han stared at the door that Data had just exited. "That is one weird guy."

"That's because he's an android."

"WHAT?!?"

* * *

As Data walked down the corridor, he examined his hand. _It is damaged, but nothing that Geordi cannot fix. I will visit Engineering later, after the meeting_. Data entered the conference room, and Captain Picard cleared his throat.

The meeting had begun.

* * *

Author's Note: Things are getting a little more intense now, and will be even more intense next chapter… Let's just say that Captain Picard will not be happy about Data's 'accident' with the lightsaber.

Thanks for reading another chapter, and please do review! Until next chapter…


	5. Officer's Meeting and Repairs

Chapter 5—Officer's Meeting and Repairing the Falcon

"We have ourselves a unique situation here," Captain Picard said, addressing his crew. "We have initiated first contact with a ship that could very well be from another galaxy. We know nothing about these people—except that they are most certainly at war with another faction."

Captain Picard turned to his science officer. "Did you learn anything from them, Commander?" he asked.

Data nodded. "Yes, sir. The 'droids' they spoke of are sentient, artificial life forms, much like myself. Also, Mr. Skywalker carries a weapon; the technology of which I have never seen or encountered before."

"Describe this…weapon, Commander."

"It was much like an ancient sword, except that it glowed with a blue hue and singed everything it touched. Mr. Skywalker called it a 'light saber,' sir."

"Thank you for your information, Commander." Just then, Captain Picard noticed that Data's entire right hand…was missing. His hand wasn't even there, stopping at the wrist.

"Commander Data?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Where. Is. Your. Hand. Data." the captain asked, trying to hide his alarm.

Data showed the captain his detached hand, looking at it curiously, as though it were a new type a life form and not his hand severed from his wrist. "I accidently touched Mr. Skywalker's 'light saber,' sir. I am positive it would sear human flesh."

"So, you're saying that Mr. Skywalker _accidently_ cut off your hand, Mr. Data?"

"Not exactly. You see, sir, I reached out to touch it and—"

"Commander Data, please report to Engineering immediately to repair your hand," Picard said, cutting the android off. "I will speak to Mr. Skywalker personally about this matter."

"Yes, sir," Data replied, leaving the room.

Captain Picard sighed and placed his hands on the table. "Now, back to the matter at hand," he said resignedly. "I ask you all to name any questions or suggestions you have about this situation now."

"Well, obviously we should let them stay until they fix their ship," Riker offered. "We're not breaking the Prime Directive by making first contact, after all. They obviously have warp capabilities equal, if not superior, to our own."

Captain Picard nodded, agreeing with his first officer.

"But what about this 'war' you speak of, Captain?" Worf asked. "No doubt one of them will ask us to help them in their conflict."

"We will not get ourselves, or the Federation, involved in an intergalactic war. We cannot and will not help them. Not now," Picard replied. "As you know, that is breaking the Prime Directive."

"Should we inform Starfleet of this sudden chain of events?" Counselor Troi wanted to know.

Captain Picard shook his head. "Not now," he told his crew. "Not yet. With these types of situations, it is best to wait and see what happens."

The captain stood up, pushing back his chair. "Dismissed," he declared, and strode out of the room, his officers following suit.

Meanwhile, Data was getting his hand fixed by Geordi LaForge. Geordi shook his head, smiling as he melded Data's hand back onto his wrist. The trouble his friend got into…sometimes it could be very funny.

"It's done," Geordi told Data, putting his tool away.

The android flexed his fingers and blinked, staring at his mended hand curiously. "Good as new," he commented unemotionally. "Thank you, Geordi." Data turned and began to walk away.

"Hey, Data? Be sure to stay away from dangerous, foreign weapons!"

The android turned around. "Of course, Geordi," he said seriously, not even understanding that Geordi was joking.

Geordi shook his head and chuckled, returning to his work.

"So you're saying," Captain Picard told Luke Skywalker, "that you 'accidently' cut off my officer's hand with your weapon."

"Yes, I've told you all this before," Luke replied, exasperated. "Ask your officer if you don't believe me." The young Jedi walked over to the window of Picard's ready room, staring out into the depths of unfamiliar space.

"I wish as much as you do that this had never happened," Luke told the captain, his back facing him. "I just wish that you would be on your way to your base, and we would be on our way to ours."

That got Captain Picard's full attention. "A base? You were also heading towards a base?"

Luke turned around. "Yes," he said. "Hoth was uninhabited, a barren, harsh world. The perfect spot for a base."

Picard shook his head. "I don't understand," he replied. "If Hoth was a barren, harsh planet, wouldn't that be a bad place to set up a colony or base?"

Luke sat back down again. "Not for our purposes. This is a secret base," Luke explained.

"For your war?"

"Yeah, it had to be in the Outer Rim. Few planets escape the clutches of the Empire."

Picard leaned forward in his desk, intrigued. "Please, Mr. Skywalker," he inquired, "tell me more about this war that seems to revolve around everything your people do."

Luke gave the captain a small smile. "I can't tell you about all that now. It would take up a lot of time, and besides, our top priority now is to get back home. I'd be happy to tell you all about it another time."

Picard nodded. "Very well," he told Luke. "I'll let the incident we were discussing earlier pass this once. But I don't want to hear of anything like that happening again. Understood?"

"Understood, Captain."

"You are dismissed, Mr. Skywalker."

The young man left, and Picard gazed out the window, looking wistfully at the stars. _And to think that there are even unknown _galaxies _out there to explore_, he thought.

When Commander Geordi LaForge reached the hangar bay along with a few other engineers, Captain Han Solo was sitting on top of _The Millennium Falcon. _It looked as though he was repairing something on the ship, sparks flying as he worked on the surface with a strange-looking tool.

Geordi walked to the ship. Looking up, he called, "Captain Solo! Do you need some help up there?"

Han stopped what he was doing; pulling up his goggles, he called down, "It's about time! I'll be with you guys in a minute."

Geordi watched as Han disappeared from the top of the ship and strode down the ramp a minute or so later.

"Sorry about the delay, Captain," Geordi told him. "I had to fix some malfunctioning replicators."

"Riiiight," the captain replied disbelievingly. "Well, what are you standing there like a bunch of nerfherders for? Come on!" Han walked back up the landing ramp, and the engineers followed suit.

Han led them through a metallic, curving corridor, their feet echoing on the surface. Geordi walked alongside Han, the other engineers following closely behind.

"Uh, Commander?"

"Yes?" Geordi asked.

"Would you mind telling the other guys to leave? I don't need that many people pokin' and prodding at my ship," Han whispered. "She's touchy, you know."

The chief engineer turned around to talk to one of the other engineers. "Ensign Wagner, would you mind returning to Engineering with Crewman Sol? The captain only wants one person for this job."

Wagner nodded. "Alright, Commander," he replied. "Comm me if he changes his mind."

Geordi and Han reached a small circular space, where both the golden droid and the cyndrical droid were working at different places in the room.

The golden droid turned around, waving its hands up in surprise. "Captain Solo!" he proclaimed. "What a surprise! And who is that with you?" Threepio asked curiously.

"This is our engineer. He's going to speed up repair a little bit."

"Oh, how wonderful! Welcome aboard, sir! We are pleased to have you helping—"

"Is Chewie still up there?" Han asked, rudely cutting off Threepio.

"Yes, I believe so, sir."

"Go up there and help him out. Artoo can stay down here."

"But sir, I couldn't disagree with you more! Artoo and I—"

Han gave Threepio a warning glare. "Stop protesting and get up there already!"

"Of course, sir." Threepio tottered away, muttering, "Captain Solo has no respect for anyone but himself…"

Artoo made a tweedling sound. "Oh, shut your trap, you nosy little droid! That's none of your business." Threepio disappeared down the winding corridor as Geordi watched in bewilderment.

Han shook his head. "Thank goodness he has a circuit breaker."

The engineer gave the captain a puzzled look. "Circuit breaker?"

Han shot Geordi a look. "An off switch," he said. "Now, let's get started, shall we?" The smuggler captain tossed the engineer a pair of goggles. "You'll need these for what we're… uh…never mind. You already _have _a pair of goggles." He motioned to Geordi's visor.

Geordi touched his visor absentmindedly. "Actually," he explained. "this helps me to see. Would you like to take a look at it?" he asked, moving to remove it.

"Uh, no. No thanks," Han said. "Anyway…" He pointed to a terminal. "That's the hyperdrive terminal. It'll tell you all you need to know about the hyperdrive system. I'm pretty sure it's the whole power grid that's malfunctioning, but it won't hurt to check the hyperdrive. Here, lemme show you how it works."

As Captain Solo explained to Geordi how the hyperdrive system functioned, the engineer slowly realized that this technology was way beyond anything the Enterprise had or had achieved. It would take centuries, even millennia, to create this kind of technology. Geordi could only imagine what the Federation could _do_ with this sort of warp drive! One could cross the entire galaxy in a matter of _days_ instead of years! In fact, the Federation could—

"Hey, kid! You listening to me, or what?"

Geordi snapped out of his engineering reverie to find Captain Solo staring at him.

"Sorry, Captain," he apologized. "This is just amazing, this hyperdrive. It's highly advanced…it's way beyond our capabilities."

"Well, if you had been listening to me for the past ten minutes, you would probably understand how to help!"

"Sorry Captain," he apologized again. "Could you please repeat what you were saying?"

"Yeah, yeah," Han grumbled. "Actually _listen_ to me this time, okay?"

Geordi nodded. "I will, Captain."

After another twenty minutes of explanations, Commander LaForge had gotten the basics of how _The Millennium Falcon _functioned and was working alongside the captain. Artoo, the droid, occasionally tweedled and passed the two tools.

"So, you're not only the captain of this ship, but the engineer as well?" Geordi asked.

"That's right," Han replied, welding two wires together. "Me and Chewie do all the repairs on this rust bucket."

Artoo emitted a rude blat. "Oh, yeah, and the droids, of course. Although I'd say Threepio is way more trouble than he's worth."

"Threepio and Commander Data have a lot in common," Geordi noted, twisting a stray bolt into place, "though I'll admit Threepio is a lot more annoying," he finished with a chuckle.

"I'm finding it hard to believe that that officer is actually a droid," Han said. "I've seen a lot, and I've never seen a droid like _that_ before."

"He's an android, actually," Geordi corrected, "and his life ambition is to be human."

Han laughed. "Imagine that," he replied. "Threepio's too scatterbrained and stupid to have that kind of desire."

Just then, 'Chewie,' the furry alien, walked into the doorway and growled.

Han looked up, annoyed. "Whaddya want, Chewie? Can't you see we're _working_ here?"

Chewie roared in reply.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're working too." Han pushed his goggles up on his forehead. "What's going on, Chewie? Did you repair those power couplings yet?"

Chewie gave a loud, guttural roar, waving his huge, hairy arms.

The captain's eyes widened. "What? Yeah, yeah. Have Threepio tell 'em we'll be there in a minute." To Geordi, he said, "Your captain is outside the Falcon. We'd better go see what he wants."

Without even bothering to take off his goggles, or even put away the tool he was holding, Han got up and strode out of the ship, Geordi close behind him.

Sure enough, Captain Picard was patiently waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp, hands folded behind his back.

"Hey, Captain! What can I do for you?" the smuggler captain exclaimed with a hint of sarcasm.

"I was simply wondering how your repairs were coming along," Picard replied curtly.

"Fine, fine! Couldn't be better," Han replied overenthusiastically. "Your engineer is really helping things along."

"That's good to hear. When do you expect repairs to be completed?"

"A week or two. That nebula sure did a number on us."

Captain Picard nodded. "Please resume your work. Captain, I would like you to meet me in your ready room when you are finished for the day." Without another word he left the hangar bay.

Han looked at Geordi and rolled his eyes. "What's _his_ problem? C'mon, let's get back to work."

Geordi stared incredulously at the hidden compartments he had just found. _I wonder what _**these**_ are for?_ he thought. He decided to ask.

"Hey Captain!"

"Whaddya want?"

"Oh, I was wondering what these were used for," Geordi replied, gesturing towards the compartments.

"First of all, you don't have to get all formal on me," the smuggler said. "Call me Han. And as for these? You have a good eye. These are my smuggling compartments."

"Smuggling? Is that… illegal, where you come from?"

"Hey, a guy's got to make a living, you know?" Han dropped his voice a couple octaves. "Don't tell your captain unless he asks, okay? I've been given the impression he doesn't like me that much."

"The captain's just a little wary. But no, I won't tell him. You have my word."

"Right. Well, speaking of the captain…Chewie! Shall we call it a day?"

They heard a guttural roar from above them. "Alright; well, we've got to go see the captain, so…"

Chewie poked his head out and growled, moving down the ladder and following Han and Geordi out of the _Millennium Falcon_.

"Where are you all going? Wait up for me!" Threepio exclaimed, hobbling after them.


	6. Plans and Sabbacc

Chapter 6—Plans and Sabbacc

**Author's Note: I know, I know, it's been forever, and I am sure you have all been patiently waiting for this to be updated. But I have had a serious case of writer's block, and have been working on other stories as well. Now, however, I have reached a revelation and am now able to continue writing this **_**very**_** (I am surprised) popular story. **

**Many thanks to the 15 users who have favorited this story and also many thanks to the 23 users who have placed this on story alerts. Also thank you for the 25 reviews. All of you have kept me going, and thank you for your support! I **_**greatly**_** appreciate it.**

**Well, anyway, enough with the endless author rant. To the story! Enjoy!**

"So, Captain Solo and…" Captain Picard said, forgetting the Wookie's name. The three of them were in Captain Picard's ready room, the Starfleet captain behind his desk.

"His name's Chewbacca, Captain, but I'm sure he won't mind if you just call him Chewie," Han said coolly. The furry alien roared an affirmative.

"Right," the balding captain said nervously. He really didn't like "Chewie," he made him nervous. "Captain Solo and Chewbacca. Based on your progress with our engineer today, when do you expect repairs on your ship to be complete?"

Han shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "From what we got finished today, Captain, I would say a week maximum; though we could probably pull it off in five days." He paused a moment, then continued speaking. "But even when repairs are made, we go right back to square one."

Captain Picard raised his eyebrows. "Which is…?"

Han rolled his eyes, almost mocking the other captain. "The nebula. To get back home, we would have to travel through it again. It wreaked havoc on our systems the first time. I'd hate to see what could happen the second time around."

Captain Picard said nothing but put his hand on his chin and looked out the window, obviously deep in thought.

After a few minutes, he straightened up and leaned inward towards Han and Chewbacca, resting his hands on the table. "I believe I just may have the solution to that, Captain Solo," he said almost triumphantly. "But I will have to speak to Commander LaForge. I will get back to you on this promptly." He stood up. "Chewbacca, you are dismissed. I would like to have a private conversation with Captain Solo."

Chewie stood up, all seven feet of him, and gave a roar of indignation, startling Captain Picard.

"Whoah, whoah Chewie," Han said smoothly. "Captain Picard's not blowing you off at all. He just wants to have a captain-to-captain talk." He glanced at Picard. "Am I right, Captain?"

Picard nodded curtly. "That was my intent, yes."

Han clapped Chewie on the back. "Go back to our quarters, Chewie. I'll be fine without you. Say hi to Threepio for me!"

Chewie growled and left the room, the doors sliding shut behind him.

Captain Picard went over to the replicator. "Earl Grey tea, hot," he intoned, and a small steaming cup appeared in front of him. He took it and went back to his seat. "Can I get you anything, Captain?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine, thanks," Han said uneasily. He really didn't trust these 'replicators.'

Picard took a sip of his 'Earl Grey tea' or whatever the hell it was, setting it down on his desk. "How do you like the Enterprise, Captain?" he asked politely.

"It's not a bad ship," Han replied. "Well made, has a lot of different technology than what I've ever seen…" He trailed off, pondering for a moment. "Hey, Captain, I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"What is it that you guys _do_, exactly? Are you traders, smugglers, pirates…what are you doing here? This ain't exactly populated space."

"We are explorers," Picard replied simply, a little miffed. "The Enterprise was commissioned by Starfleet to explore uncharted space. This crew explores unknown parts of the galaxy. It's what we do."

"Explorers, eh? Sounds pretty dangerous to me," Han commented off-handedly.

"It can be. But we often get the opportunity to experience new peoples and new cultures on our journey. Like your crew, for example."

"Now, lemme get something straight," Han said. "Luke and Leia _aren't_ part of my crew. I'm just helping out the Rebellion by taking them to Hoth."

"Is this for your war?" Picard asked, intrigued. Perhaps Captain Solo would tell him what Luke Skywalker would not.

"Hey, it isn't _my_ war," Han protested lightly. "I like Luke and Leia. I'm doing this for them. Sure, the Empire has wronged a lot of people, and sure, I do odd jobs for the Rebellion occasionally, but don't get me wrong. I'm not taking sides."

"Tell me about this "Rebellion" and "Empire", Captain. I am intrigued to know more," Picard said eagerly.

"Aw, hell, I'm not going into a history of the galaxy," Han said, annoyed. "Ask Luke, if you're so interested."

The smuggler stood up cockily. "If you don't mind, I'm going to my quarters now. It was nice talking to you, _Captain_." With that, Han promptly left.

Picard sipped his tea and sighed. Perhaps if he asked that lovely woman, Leia, about it…

The next day, Han sidled into Ten-Forward. It had been a tiring day, and now he was bored and wanted something to do.

Cantinas, even if they were called something else, always managed to fix that for him.

Han sat down at the bar and a woman with a very strange-looking hat came up to him. "Oh, hello there!" she said warmly. "You must be Captain Solo."

"That I am," Han said, nodding.

"My name is Guinan," she said. "Can I get you anything, Captain?"

"Uh, just some water, please." Han was sure that this 'Guinan' lady wouldn't have any drinks or alcohol that he would be familiar with. And he didn't trust what wasn't familiar to him for good reason.

After giving Han a glass of water, Guinan moved on to another patron, leaving Han to take a look around the establishment.

The smuggler grew quickly bored of people-watching. He looked into his glass. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come here…

"Hey, Captain Solo!"

Han turned around to see a smiling man with a red uniform and a beard walking towards him. He remembered that this man's name was Riker, and he was first officer to Captain Picard. Han thought that Captain Picard was a total prick, but this guy was okay. "Commander Riker! How are you?" he said, plastering a lopsided grin on his face.

"Fine, just fine, Captain," Riker replied. He sat next to Han at the bar and gave him a genuine smile. "Care to join my table? You seem kind of lonely up here."

Han smiled again. Why not? "Sure," he said jovially.

Riker led Han to a table where three others were sitting. Han recognized both Geordi and Data, and the pretty woman with the black hair he had seen around the ship.

"Hey, Data, mind pulling up a chair for our guest?" Riker asked.

The android did so, and Han sat down across from Riker and next to Data. Re-introductions were made, and soon the smuggler was joining in on the lively conversation.

"So," Commander Riker asked, "What do you do when you have down time? Do you have any hobbies?"

Han grinned. "Oh, you know. Don't really have _too _many hobbies. I mostly just talk, fix the ship, play sabacc with anyone who will play with me—wait. You don't know what sabacc is, do you?"

They all slowly shook their heads.

"Well, I'll show you." Han took out a pack of sabacc cards from his breast pocket. "Sabacc is a card game," he drawled. "A card game that sometimes has high stakes." He dealt cards to Data, Geordi, Riker, and Troi, explaining the rules of the game while doing so, and within a few minutes, all were merrily playing sabacc.

"I'll try to take it easy on you," Han said cockily, "since I'm only one of the best players in the galaxy."

"I don't know about that," Riker said, laughing. "If Data's skill at poker is any indication, he just might have you beat."

Han raised his eyebrows. "Poker?" he asked quizzically.

"Yes, it is another card game. You should have Will teach you how to play," Counselor Troi said silkily.

Riker grinned, holding his cards in front of him. "I certainly will if you would like to learn, Han."

Han grinned right back. "Of course. I'm always up for a game of chance."

The next day, Princess Leia walked into Ten-Forward. She had heard good things about this establishment from Luke and Han… Though she really didn't trust Han's judgment, what Luke said was usually true. She walked up to an empty table and sat down, just looking around; watching the strange and alien people with uniforms chat and have a good old time drinking and laughing. It could have been any other place in the galaxy. But it wasn't her galaxy. And so everything was different.

A woman wearing purple and wearing a weird hat came over. "Can I help you?" she asked politely.

Leia waved her hand. "No thank you," she said nonchalantly. "I'm just…relaxing." The woman moved away, and Leia was left with her thoughts.

She didn't even notice that the man had sat down at her table until he spoke. "So, you're the Princess?" he asked.

Leia looked up and saw a man with a beard and a red uniform sitting next to her and smiling. "Yeah," she said. "Who are you, again?"

"I'm Commander Riker," he said. "But you can just call me Will."

"It's Leia," she said, "Not 'Princess.' It's a formal title…"

"Ah, I see," the man said. "What does it mean…?"

And so Princess Leia found herself talking and almost flirting with this man. He seemed very likable; not at all like Han, who was just too cynical for her liking…

"Will, what are you doing?" A woman's voice interrupted their conversation.

Will looked up sheepishly. "Oh, hi, Deanna!" he said almost guiltily. He leaned in next to Leia and whispered, "I have to go now. Talk to you later?" He was then swept away by the woman with long curly black hair.

Leia leaned back in her chair. That was weird…

…

The doorbell to Luke's quarters rang, and Luke looked up. He checked the time and noted that it was exactly to the minute when he told him to come. Obviously, Data was always punctual.

He answered the door, and sure enough, Data was there. He politely nodded. "May I come in, sir?"

Luke threw his hands back. "Be my guest, Data. The droids are in the next room. I told them that you were coming."

Data nodded again. "That is good. Thank you for letting me talk to them…Luke. I am surprised that you have artificial lifeforms in your galaxy."

Luke chuckled. "Well, we sure do. And you seem eager to know some of your own kind, so what am I to say about it?"

Luke straightened himself up. "I'm off to Ten-Forward to chat with Han and Leia. See you later, Data." He left.

Data went into the next room, where R2-D2 and C-3P0 were waiting. The golden droid threw up his hands. "Mr. Data! Master Skywalker told us you were coming!" he said excitedly.

The android nodded, and Threepio continued. "He also told us that you are a droid, too! Artoo says you are very advanced… are you a prototype?"

Data shook his head. "No, I am not a prototype. Neither am I a droid. The correct term for my species is 'android.'" He knelt next to Artoo, who whistled. "However, I _am_ artificial intelligence." He touched Artoo with a pale hand. "There is so much we could learn from each other."

Threepio nodded. "Of course, Mr. Data! There certainly is!"

Data stood up and looked Threepio in the eye. "Teach me."

A couple of hours later, Luke walked back into his quarters to find the android talking amiably to both Threepio and Artoo. The young Jedi grinned. "Having fun, Data?" he asked, and the science officer looked up.

He nodded. "I most certainly am, Luke. I am now fluent in over 50 of your languages, and am knowledgable in many of your species' cultures."

Luke looked at Data quizzically. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"We exchanged some of our data banks, Master Skywalker!" Threepio exclaimed. "I know some of their culture, too."

Luke laughed. "How fascinating."

Data stood up. "I believe that my shift starts soon. Thank you very much for allowing me to meet with your droids, Mr. Skywalker. It is truly an honor."

"No problem."

Just then, Data's comm went off. "Yes?"

"Commander Data," Captain Picard's voice said. "I would like you to come to the conference room with the Falcon crew for a meeting."

"Yes, sir. I will be right there." The android gave Luke a sideways glance. "Find the rest of the crew and meet me in the conference room." He nodded and left.

Twenty minutes later, the assembled crew of the Millennium Falcon (including the droids), Captain Picard, Geordi La Forge, and Data were assembled around the elliptical table.

Picard, who was at the front, began to speak. "I have assembled you all here to introduce a proposal. A solution to your problem, Captain Solo." He motioned to Geordi. "Geordi and Data will give you the details of the plan."

Geordi nodded. "Thank you, Captain." Then he launched into the plan. "Now, Captain Solo, you said that the nebula that brought you here damaged your systems and that it would be unadvisable to go back through the nebula again." He paused a moment. "Data and I have been working hard studying the nebula and adjusting the Enterprise's systems so that they are 'immune', so to speak, to the nebula's damaging components. We are pretty sure we have adjusted our systems to maximum capacity." He motioned to Data.

"Our plan is to 'ferry' the Millennium Falcon through the nebula so that you may return home. Once there, the Enterprise will turn back and return to our respective galaxy."

Captain Picard looked at Han Solo expectantly. The smuggler captain leaned back in his chair. "That's a great idea. But there's one little problem."

"What's that?" Captain Picard asked.

Princess Leia voiced Han's worry. "What if we encounter Imperials?"

"We will deal with that when it happens, Princess. Not to worry, our weapons are at full capacity in case a fire fight occurs."

Captain Picard nodded. "We will let you know when we are ready to ferry you to the nebula. Thank you." The crew of the Millennium Falcon filed out.

Little did Captain Picard know that by ferrying the crew of the Millennium Falcon through the nebula, he was inviting a whole new world of trouble for the crew of the Enterprise-D.

**Author's Note: Not too much action yet; sorry… Next chapter promises much more action, and possibly the wrath of Darth Vader himself! Also planning to put in some Holodeck fun in there as well… **

**Please review; I greatly appreciate feedback! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Holodecks and Traps

Chapter 7—Holodecks and Traps

**Author's Note: I'M BACK! Yes, I'm back and writing this for everyone's entertainment. I do apologize for the long hiatus… Hopefully updates will be more frequent in the future. **

**THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to all of those who put this on alerts, favorite, and review. It's greatly appreciated, and frankly, it's what keeps this story going. **

**Speaking of that, I am looking for an active beta reader for this story; that is, someone to harass me continuously to write it. Because although it's my most popular story, I have the least motivation for it. So if you'd like to beta-read this crossover for me, please send me a pm or an email. This would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!**

**Now to the story! Enjoy!**

Captain Picard walked onto the bridge and sat down in the Captain's chair next to Commander Riker, his 'number one'. He stared out onto the viewscreen at the strange-looking nebula in front of them. He turned to Riker. "Are we all set to go, number one?"

His second in command nodded. "Yes, we're all ready to go, Captain."

"All systems checked and cleared," Data piped up.

"Lieutenant Worf, has the crew been informed of this?"

Worf looked up from his console. "Yes, Captain," he intoned. "They're on Deck Nine. Would you like me to open a voice comm channel?"

"Yes, please."

Worf opened up a link. "Captain Solo, we're about to warp through the nebula. Any concerns before we do so?"

Han Solo's sarcastic drawl came over the comm. "Nope, none that I can think of. Just make sure your engineers did their job right, because if they didn't..." He laughed a little. "You're going to have a hell of a time repairing this thing."

"Thank you for your concern, Captain Solo." Captain Picard closed the link.

"Sir, I've rechecked the systems, and they're at full capacity. We are ready to go."

"Thank you, Data," Picard replied. "What speed would be appropriate, Lieutenant Worf?"

"I would say Warp 7, sir," Worf recommended. "Any faster would be too dangerous."

"Warp 7 it is," the captain agreed. "Engage!"

In 10-Forward, Han, who had been chatting with Luke, looked up attentively for no apparent reason.

"What's wrong, Han?" Luke asked, concerned.

"Did you feel that? We've made the jump to light-speed," Han replied. He looked into his drink. "Pretty slow light-speed if you ask me..." he muttered. "Hey Guinan!" he called to the bartender. "Can I ask you something?"

The woman walked over to Han and Luke's table. "What is it, Han?" she asked smoothly.

"Did the Captain tell you how long it would take to travel back through the nebula? Cuz he sure didn't tell me."

Guinan thought for a moment. "Well..." she said, treading carefully on the situation. She knew that Han didn't really like Picard all that much. "He was telling me yesterday that it would take at least four days. Probably longer."

Han grimaced, rolling his eyes. "Figures," he muttered. "Thanks, Guinan."

"Any time, Han." Guinan moved back to the bar.

Luke looked at Han incredulously. "Four days?" he exclaimed. "Man, Mon Mothma is going to be so mad..."

Han snorted. "Yeah, I know. With the speed of their ships, it makes me wonder how they've even survived this long."

…

Meanwhile, on the other side of the nebula and in a separate galaxy, the sith lord known as Darth Vader sighed as his meditation chamber closed shut, the machine taking his respiratory mask off. He sighed again. This was the only time that he could breathe without making a disturbingly loud sound. Granted, he knew it intimidated others, but the loud sounds that the respirator mask made bothered him as well. Here, in his meditation chamber, he was free of that.

The Emperor Palpatine had recently given Vader command of the Star Destroyer Executer, telling his apprentice that it would be his personal vessel. Vader expressed his extreme gratitude to the Emperor and promised that it would most certainly help in eliminating the rebels.

Vader closed his eyes and began to meditate, reaching through the Force; not blindly but with determined concentration. His goal was and had been for months to find his son. To find the young Skywalker and lure him to the dark side. With his son by his side, perhaps they could overthrow the Emperor at last. And then, side by side, they would rule the galaxy. Together.

Vader concentrated for a while, quickly growing disappointed as he did not discover even the faintest sign or signal of his son. He had thought he would _find_ Skywalker this time... Vader frowned, trying not to lose his temper. He was about to tell the computer to open the meditation chamber when…

He felt something, a faint pinprick through the Force. Vader took a hold of that faint "signal" and used his greatly honed Force powers to "rein in" what he was feeling through the Force.

Vader put his hands on his forehead as a picture began to form into his mind. A ship, the likes of which he had never seen before; a nebula… There were other people on this ship, but Vader had no interest in them.

The only thing he wanted to know and discovered was that Skywalker, along with the Princess and that pesky Captain Solo, were on this ship as well.

Vader concentrated further; to the point where his head started to ache. Finally, he found the general location of the nebula and where this strange vessel was.

The Sith Lord immediately opened the meditation chamber and went to the head officer in charge in the bridge area of the Executor. "Commander?"

The Imperial officer whipped around and stood at attention, saluting the other with fear in his eyes. "Yes, Lord Vader?"

Vader breathed menacingly to frighten the commander before continuing. "Commander, I wish to rendezvous with the Star Destroyer _Razor_. Please abandon our current course and set the coordinates for that location."

The commander glanced around nervously. "But Lord Vader…"

He raised a hand. "Do not question me, commander, or I may find it suitable to… replace you."

The commander stood ramrod straight and saluted. "Of course, Lord Vader. I'll get right to it." He walked away as quickly as his legs could carry him.

Vader swept away, walking to his personal quarters. He needed to speak to his master about this plan, but he knew that if he played this situation correctly, Skywalker and all the rest of them would soon be in the palm of his hand…

…

Commander William Riker was walking down the hallways with Deanna Troi, talking about the nebula and Geordi and Data's idea of "ferrying" the lost crew of the _Millennium Falcon_.

"I hope that they didn't miscalculate," Riker said nervously. "We would be in trouble up to our necks if they did."

Troi shook her head. "No, Will, I believe that they calculated correctly. We will be fine."

"But what about those 'Imperials' Captain Solo keeps talking about? What if we run into those?"

The counselor waved a hand. "You worry too much, Will. If we do happen to encounter them, we should be able to talk with them peacefully."

Commander Riker shrugged. "I guess you're right…"

The first officer and the counselor passed by Data in the hallway, who was talking amiably to the golden robot that was now often seen around the ship.

"Of course. I most certainly agree with you," the android told the golden droid as they passed by.

"I'm glad you do! Too few people actually listen to me, you know," the other artificial life form chirped as they turned the corner.

Riker gave Troi a funny look. "That's all I see Data doing lately," he noted. "Talking to those droids. Is that a bad thing?"

Counselor Troi shook her head. "Of course it isn't. Data has found someone he can finally relate to, and not Lore, either. He has found someone similar to him, and of course he wants to know more. Wouldn't you?"

Riker stroked his beard thoughtfully. "You're right. I think I would be the same way..."

…

The next day, Luke Skywalker waited patiently outside the Holodeck, lightsaber in one hand. He looked at the computer console. "Computer, what time is it?"

"Exactly 1900 hours, sir," the computer replied in its strange yet soothing monotone voice.

_Come on, come on… Where is Han and everybody else?_ he thought impatiently.

Finally, Luke saw Han coming down the hallway, lopsided grin on his face. "You ready?" he asked Han.

"Yeah, of course I am. They're on their way."

Luke tapped a couple of keys on the computer console. "I might as well pull up the program we're going to use. Data showed me how to make holodeck programs on here the other day."

"Data… He's that strange droid guy, right?"

Luke whipped his head and gave Han a sharp look. "Data isn't a droid. He's an android, and please don't address him as a droid. He doesn't like it."

Han rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. Don't get all defensive on me, Luke."

"I'm not getting defensive." Luke looked at the console, brow furrowed. "He isn't a droid, that's all."

"Yeah, whatever."

Luke looked up from the console. "Where's Chewie?"

"He's on his way; he had to go to the weapons locker." Han leaned against the wall. "You have your weapon?"

The young Jedi nodded. "It's all set." He pulled back from the console, looking at Han.

"So, what do you have planned here? A weapons demonstration?"

Luke shrugged. "Kind of. You'll see."

Just then, Captain Picard, Commander Riker, Commander Data, and Lieutenant Worf, followed by Chewbacca, came around the corner and stopped in front of the Holodeck doors.

Captain Picard nodded curtly. "So, are you ready to show us, Mr. Skywalker?"

Luke smiled. "Yes; I'm all set." He led them into the holodeck, the doors making a hissing sound familiar to the crew of the Enterprise. "Computer, load custom program 'Death Star.'"

"Affirmative," the computer intoned, and a corridor familiar to Han and Luke appeared; the only thing different was the fact that there were targets positioned around the area.

Han looked around the computer generated room incredulously, and then gave Luke almost a dirty look. "Blast it, Luke. You could choose anything, and you choose the fricking Death Star…"

Picard turned his head sharply. "Death Star?"

Luke shook his head. "I'll explain later, Captain." Looking at his friend, he said, "This was actually a kind of simulation program that Mon Mothma suggested. I just used their technology," he motioned to the Enterprise crewmembers, "to make it possible."

Commander Riker smiled and cocked his head. "So, who wants to begin…?"

Han gave a cocky grin. "Why not me?" He pulled out his blaster, and with a swift movement, rapidly aimed and fired at one of the targets, which were simple circles with rings. Han hit the target dead-center, leaving a smoking hole where the middle of the target was. He grinned, cocking his blaster in his hand almost lazily.

Luke raised his eyebrows. "That was a good one."

"Well, I'm not one to brag, but I'm a damn good shooter. It's what saved me more than once." He looked at the blaster cocked in his hand, then his eyes swept over the speechless Enterprise crew. "Who wants to try?"

Surprisingly, Captain Picard himself stepped forward. "I'll most certainly try."

Han wordlessly and gingerly handed Picard his blaster. "Be careful with it."

"But of course," Picard replied. He held it in his hands, getting a feel for it, then he aimed it at a target and prepared to fire.

Han's eyes widened and he rushed over to the other captain. "No, no, no… You're doing it all wrong, Captain! If you hold it like that, you'll blow someone's brains out!" Han began to lecture Picard on how to properly hold a blaster, Picard himself surprised by this turn of events.

The rest of the group, except for Worf, who stayed behind with Han and Picard, quickly grew bored of watching and moved to another section of the Holodeck. Riker looked at Luke expectantly. "I'd really like to see this "lightsaber" that's got the whole ship abuzz."

Luke smiled. "Sure," he said. He took out the weapon from his belt and unsheathed it, making a hissing sound that had become familiar to him. The young Jedi held the lightsaber in a defensive position. _It feels so good to be holding this again_, he thought.

Riker raised his eyebrows. "Wow, I'm impressed," he breathed. "How do you use it?"

Luke smiled. "Let me demonstrate." He walked casually over to one of the targets. Suddenly, in one rapid, precise movement, he swung the blade straight through the target, where it fell apart into two sizzling pieces.

Data nodded. "So that is how you operate that weapon," he stated.

"Yes; although it isn't a blaster, it comes in handy for close combat."

The android held out a hand expectantly. "May I try, Luke?"

Luke laughed. "Sure, just don't go cutting off your hands."

Riker and Luke laughed some more while Data stared at them blankly. "I do not understand."

Commander Riker smiled at Data. "It's a joke. I'll try to explain it later, alright, Data?"

"Of course, Commander," the android replied.

Luke gingerly gave Data the lightsaber, and Data held it in his hands, the blade slightly obscuring his pale face.

The young Jedi smiled. "You're actually holding it properly. That's a great start."

Data cocked his head. "Now, how do I use it, Luke?"

"That's what I'm going to show you," Luke replied.

…

Nearly two hours later, they all walked out of the Holodeck with grins on their faces. Han smiled at Picard. "I'll admit, Captain, you're learning with the blaster, but you're no match on a phaser."

Captain Picard nodded a little proudly. "Thank you, Captain Solo. You are excellent with a blaster."

The two crews went their separate ways, and as Luke, Han, and Chewie walked down the corridor to their quarters, Han looked at Luke and said, "Thanks, kid. That was actually a little fun."

…

A couple of days later, Han nearly ran into Geordi in the corridor, a few hours after their daily repair session. "Well, hey there again!" the smuggler said, surprised.

"Hey there, Han. How are you doing?"

Han nodded. "Pretty good, actually. Just wondering when we're going to be getting out of the nebula."

Geordi grinned. "About that. We will be out of the nebula in fifteen minutes, if you can believe that. Our engines are working at full capacity."

"Really? You aren't kidding with me now, are you, Geordi?"

The engineer shook his head. "Nope. Do you want me to take you to the bridge?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

Ten minutes later, Han and the rest of the crew of the _Millennium Falcon _were standing on the bridge. The two captains stood next to each other, gazing at the viewscreen expectantly.

Data turned around in his chair, looking up at everyone. "We're going out of warp, sir."

All of the crew of the _Millennium Falcon_ held their breath as the stars slowly stopped moving. _We'll be back_, Luke thought, _and more than ready to fight the Empire._

As the _Enterprise-D_ came to a stop, Data looked confused as he gazed down at his computer console. "Sir, there's another ship in the vicinity."

"On-screen."

The viewscreen showed a rather large triangle-shaped ship that almost looked like an arrow, with a rectangular tip jutting out of the top. _No doubt the control center_, Picard thought.

Princess Leia clapped her hand to her mouth in horror. "Oh, no…"

Han put his hand to his forehead. "Blast. Imperials. Somehow they've found us."

…

**Author's Note: What will happen next? Can an Imperial Star Destroyer defeat the Enterprise? What is Darth Vader up to? What will Picard do about all of this? Not to worry, updates should be more frequent now! Please do review; a little review goes a long way!**


	8. The Battle

**Chapter 8—The Battle**

**Author's Note: And now, my eager fans and friends, we come to the much anticipated part; the most thrilling chapter yet! We have come to the part of the battle! Who will win? The loyal and worthy crew of the _Enterprise-D_, led by Captain Picard? Or the Imperial crew of the Star Destroyer _Razor_, led by none other than Darth Vader himself? Read on to find out!**

The crew of the starship Enterprise, as well as the crew of the _Millennium Falcon_, stared in horror at the looming ship before them.

"Imperials?" Captain Picard asked, managing somehow to keep his crisp composure.

Luke nodded. "Yeah, those are Imperials, alright."

"Magnify," the captain ordered the computer. The ship now covered the whole viewscreen, the details of the ship clearly visible.

The other ship, much bigger than the Enterprise, certainly looked dangerous. Besides the fact that that the ship was practically a giant compared to the Enterprise, the ship also appeared to have visible weapons mounted on several different parts of the ship's surface. The rectangular piece jutting out from the top of the ship was unusual, and Picard assumed it to be the ship's command center, much like the bridge on the Enterprise, but a lot bigger. In fact, the whole design of the ship was unusual, but he supposed it was no stranger than the _Millennium Falcon_ and the crew that ran _that_ ship. Captain Picard wondered what the hell he had gotten himself into by welcoming that ragtag crew. After all, it was his duty to as captain of this ship. That didn't mean he didn't have to like it, though. And just by the looks of that ship, he knew that there would be hostility, no matter how hard he tried. In fact, he—

"Captain." The voice of Worf interrupted his rambling thoughts.

"Yes, Worf?"

"Sir, the ship is hailing us. Shall I open up a channel?"

The captain ran a hand over his forehead and sighed. The captain stood up, straightened himself, and said, "Yes, put them on-screen."

Worf pressed a few keys, and on the screen popped up... Well, Picard wasn't exactly sure who or _what_ was on the viewscreen. It appeared to be a person, but this person was wearing all black, with a strange box on his chest. Instead of a face, the "man" (Picard truly wondered if this person was human) had a strange mask. The mask, like the rest of the armor on the man, was black, with two eye holes which were barely visible. The mask itself stretched out and over the man's head, apparently made out of some kind of metal or plastic material. Where the mouth would be was instead a triangular type of mouthpiece, stretching out over most of the lower part of the mask. With the mask or without, however, the being looked formidable, intimidating, and very dangerous.

Picard didn't know what to make of this... man. However, the crew of the _Millennium Falcon_, who were off to the side and therefore not visible on the other man's side of the viewscreen, were visibly frightened. Luke, Leia, and Han gasped all at the same time. "Darth Vader!" Leia exclaimed softly, putting her hand over her mouth.

Picard ignored them for the time being, concentrating on the figure in front of the viewscreen. For some reason, there was a kind of feedback, a strange rattling sound which he could hear clearly over the comm. No matter. This threat was his job to deal with, and his alone. Even though he had a feeling that this would end in hostility, he had to try diplomacy.

Captain Picard got up from his chair and stood up, facing the viewscreen. "This is Captain Jean-luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Please state your—"

The figure waved his hand, interrupting Picard rudely. "There are no need for pleasantries, Captain," he said, his deep, raspy voice resonating throughout the bridge of the Enterprise. He raised his hand. "We would like to board your vessel."

Picard was taken aback by the person's abrupt demand. "Excuse me, _sir_, but I don't believe I understand what you are saying. Why would you want to board our ship?" he asked, his tone shaky and uneven. He was trying to feign ignorance, but it wasn't working too well.

"I believe you know full well why we need to board your ship," the man said formidably. It was as almost as if he was boring his eyes through Picard. He raised a hand. "We have been informed that you are harboring a number of rebels aboard your ship. Allow us to board your ship and take in the rebels peacefully, and we may leave your ship intact."

Although Picard was slightly intimidated and actually a little frightened of this man, he was _not_ about to be bullied into handing over the innocent visitors so quickly. "No," he said forcefully. "We will not allow you to board our ship unless you have _sound proof _that we are indeed holding these 'rebels' you speak of."

The man on the viewscreen sighed, as though he knew that this would be Captain Picard's answer. "Very well." He raised his hand, forming it into a fist. "If we cannot extract the rebels you are protecting peacefully, then we shall do so by force." With that, the other man shut off the comm link with a resonating click.

Luke Skywalker immediately turned his sights on Picard. "You know, Captain Picard, they're going to attack now."

"More than likely, they'll disable this ship before boarding it and capturing us," Han Solo chimed in.

"And then, no doubt, they'll kill all of you and destroy your ship as well," Princess Leia finished.

"Not without a fight," Picard replied vehemently. "Rest assured, we will do our best to protect you." He looked towards his second-in-command. "Red-alert! All hands to battle stations!" he demanded. Almost immediately, the klaxon alarm began sounding as the red lights began blinking, startling the crew of the _Millennium Falcon_.

"Sir," Worf piped up from his console, "they're sending out attack ships."

Picard perked up immediately. "On-screen."

On the screen, magnified, were numerous small ships. They looked to be no bigger than the Enterprise's auxiliary shuttlecraft. They looked like small circles with two rectangles holding the ship together. For being so small, there were at least fifteen of them. They were heading towards the Enterprise quickly, in an attack formation that Picard was not familiar with.

"They appear to be one-man fighters, Captain." Data noted, fingers furiously typing over his console.

"I'd recognize those anywhere," Luke breathed. "They're TIE fighters, and boy, there are a lot of them."

Worf looked up. "They're firing, sir." A pause. "No effect."

"Lock on phasers," Picard ordered.

"Phasers locked, sir."

Picard pointed a finger towards the viewscreen dramatically. "Fire."

And with the push of a button, the Enterprise shot out phasers, violently destroying the TIE fighters one by one.

"Sir, we've gotten all of them. No survivors."

Commander Riker turned over and looked at Captain Picard. "Captain, should we fire on the main ship? After all, we have good reason to."

The balding captain shook his head solemnly. "No," he replied. "We'll wait for them to move first. They have no idea how strong our firepower or shields are. This puts us at an advantage. We'll wait."

...

On the Star Destroyer _Razor_, Darth Vader watched stoically as the other ship destroyed his TIE fighters easily. This was to be expected; after all, the ship, despite its size compared to the Star Destroyer, seemed very powerful, indeed. Even if this "Captain Picard" wasn't holding things he desired, he would still be intrigued by the ship. However, he was not interested in the bald-headed captain or his crew at the moment. He would deal with them later, once he had captured his son and the rest of the Rebels he knew the captain was hiding. Vader knew that once he had Skywalker and the rest of them, he would take pleasure in strangling Captain Picard to death for his atrocities.

But for now, tricking him into letting down his guard would have to do. Even if it meant sacrifice on the part of the TIE pilots. Vader motioned to the commander. "Commander Melkin," he intoned. "Send out thirty more TIE fighters."

The commander hesitated. "But Lord Vader, it's a massacre out there! If you send out more, they will all surely be destroyed."

For once, Vader did not threaten or kill the officer, as he normally would when they defied or questioned his superior authority. He didn't move; simply saying, "Sometimes sacrifices must be made, Commander."

"Ah," the commander replied, as though he understood what Vader was saying. "I'll get right to it, then." He hurried off.

Vader knew exactly what he was doing. By putting out more TIE fighters, he would effectively distract the Enterprise. When the other ship was entirely preoccupied, he would order them to fire upon the Enterprise—straight into their engines and their shields, effectively disabling the ship and getting the Rebels exactly where Vader wanted them. He knew that the Emperor would agree with him; that the deaths of a few TIE pilots was more than worth capturing nearly all of the Rebel leaders.

Vader watched the fighters heading towards the Enterprise, hoping—no, _knowing_ they would fall for his trap. And just like the Jedi, these foreigners—these aliens would fall underneath the power of the Empire...

…

"Sir, they're sending out more fighters."

Picard looked up. Worf was indeed right; more fighters were coming towards the Enterprise. "They're firing again, sir. To no effect."

"Fire phasers again and wipe them all out," Picard ordered.

"Captain," a voice came out from the right of Picard.

"What is it, Counselor?" he asked.

"Captain, I think this is a set up. Why would they send out ships again if they know it's going to be the same result as the last time?"

Picard said nothing as he thought about that. Perhaps Counselor Troi was right...

"Not only that," Counselor Troi continued, "but the man that came on the viewscreen—"

"Darth Vader," Luke Skywalker cut in.

"Yes, this 'Darth Vader' has only malevolent intentions for us. His feelings of violence and hatred are so strong; I can feel them." She shuddered. "We should tread carefully, Captain. We don't know what he has in store for us."

"Very well," Picard replied. "Since these fighters cannot penetrate our shields, we won't fire on them." He sat back in his chair. "Let's see what they'll do."

After a minute, the TIE fighters disappeared from the viewscreen. "Commander Data, where did those fighters go?"

Data paused a minute, working furiously on his console. After a moment, he looked to the captain and said, "Sir, they are heading towards our docking bay. With their size, I would say there is about an eighty-nine point nine nine percent chance they will penetrate our docking bay shields and invade the ship."

Captain Picard stood up. "Those are chances I am not willing to take. Ready phasers and fire, Lietenant Worf."

"Firing, sir."

However, while they were firing, Data looked up from his console, clearly alarmed. "Sir, the main ship is powering up their weapons. They're firing..."

The ship shook violently, throwing some of the crew of the _Millennium Falcon _to the side, while the Enterprise crew held themselves together.

"That was a hit, sir," Worf noted. "Shields at eighty-five percent."

"Fire photon torpedos," Picard demanded. "Full spread."

The crews waited impatiently for any word from one of the officers. "Direct hit. However, their shields have only been slightly damaged. They're firing again..."

The ship rocked, even more violently than before. "Shields down to fifty-six percent, Captain. That was a direct hit."

"Fire again."

"Same effect as last time, sir. We've barely touched their shields."

The ships exchanged fire several more times, the Enterprise damaging the shields of the Imperial Star Destroyer only a little, while the other ship slowly destroyed the Enterprise's shields.

"Shields are at twenty-seven percent, sir," Worf intoned. "They hit us a few more times, and our shields will be totally depleted."

The ship shook again as the Imperial Star Destroyer fired upon the Enterprise-D once more.

"Shields down to seventeen percent, sir, and they're powering up their weapons again."

"Evasive maneuvers, Liutenant Worf."

"Captain, they have taken down our impulse engines. We will not be going anywhere anytime soon," Data noted solemnly as the ship shook again.

"Shields at seven percent... They've stopped firing... Sir, they're hailing us."

Picard sighed in defeat. "On-screen."

Indeed, Captain Picard was right. On the screen was none other than the black-masked man that he had conversed with before.

"Captain Picard," the man addressed him smugly.

Captain Picard said nothing, refusing to speak to this man of obvious unspeakable evil.

Darth Vader waved his hand. "As you can see, we have disabled your ship as I warned you before. Now you will pay for being stubborn, Captain Picard. I will be boarding your ship shortly." Without another word, he shut the comm off.

"Oh, no!" C-3PO said, shattering the abrupt silence on the bridge. "We're all doomed!"

"No, we're not, you lunkhead. Shut up, why don'tcha?" Han asked, kicking him.

Everyone looked at Captain Picard. After all, he was the one that called the shots; and therefore, it was his job on what to do.

The flustered captain pressed his comm badge. "Commander LaForge; I'd like to know if we can still go to warp speed."

"As a matter of fact, Captain, the warp core is still online and functioning."

He nodded. "Commander LaForge, take us out of here at the—"

"Captain!" Han Solo interrupted.

The Federation captain whipped his head around and glared at him. "What is it, Captain Solo? Do you have a better plan?"

"Actually, yeah... Kinda. I don't know if it will work, but..."

"Explain, Captain Solo. What is your plan?"

Just then, however, Princess Leia pointed out at the viewscreen. "Look!"

Several shuttles were heading towards the Enterprise. Everyone knew what they were going to do once they boarded...

"There's no time!" Han said. In a more dignified tone, he added, "Permission to go down to the cargo bay with Luke and Commander Data."

"Are you sure this will work?" the balding captain asked skeptically.

"I'm pretty sure, and it's really the only chance we have, isn't it?" Han shot back. "We're running out of time..."

Commander Data piped up. "Sir, I will comm you when we reach the cargo bay. I will also fill you in on Captain Solo's plan as he tells me about it."

"Alright... Go," Picard said urgently. "And hurry."

**To Be Continued...**

**Author's Note: Will Han Solo's yet unknown plan actually work? Will the Enterprise and the crew of the _Millennium Falcon_ escape, or are they doomed to fall underneath Darth Vader's cruel fist? We'll see... Reviews, feedback, and your ideas are always welcome. Thank you for reading!**


	9. A Plan, Backfired

**An Interesting Encounter**

**Chapter 9—A Plan Backfired**

Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Data rushed onto a turbolift. "Cargo Bay," Han told the lift impatiently, as if he was talking to an actual person than an emotionless computer.

Data gave the bounty hunter a determined look. "Captain Solo, I think it would be in the best interest of both of our crews if you told us what was going on."

"I said, I'll tell you when we get there!" he snapped, as they stepped out of the mouthy captain looked around the cargo bay. He glanced at Commander Data, who appeared perplexed. "What do you have for explosives or denotative devices in this cargo bay, Commander Data?"

The science officer's eyes widened. "Sir, we do have several crates of industrial Federation issued explosives. However, those are only to be used for emergencies, and—"

"You don't think this qualifies as an emergency?" Han snapped back. "My idea is to either jettison the things off into space by themselves or load one of those shuttlecraft with them and send it off. Is that doable, Commander? It would create an explosion large enough to at least badly damage the Star Destroyer."

"That plan sounds as though it could be perfectly executable, Captain Solo, though there is a 20.789 percent chance that it will fail."

"What the...?" Han started, shocked for a moment at Data's calculations. _He sounds exactly like Threepio_, he thought to himself. To Data, he replied, "Those are good enough odds for me."

Data nodded and turned on his commlink, relaying the information to Captain Picard. "That plan is viable, Commander Data," Picard replied. "Use the shuttlecraft as a decoy."

Data, Luke, and Han began to load the small shuttlecraft with explosives. While Han and Luke were struggling with the heavy crates, Data was doing most of the gruntwork; he was picking up large crates on his own and carrying them into the shuttlecraft as though they were as light as a simple blaster rifle. Luke couldn't help but stare at him, but not for long, as he didn't want Data to notice. He would ask the android about his superhuman strength later.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Lieutenant Worf had noticed something alarming. "Sir, an enemy shuttlecraft has managed to get extremely close to the ship. It's headed towards Cargo Bay 2."

This was the same cargo bay that Luke, Han, and Data were working in. "Destroy it immediately," Picard commanded.

"Sir, we can't. It's too close to the ship—if we fired, we would risk damaging the Enterprise," Worf replied, to the alarm of everyone on the bridge.

"How did we miss that shuttlecraft?"

"I'm sorry, Captain, but we've been focusing all our firepower on the smaller fighters," Geordi piped up through the commlink from Engineering. "That shuttlecraft could have had a cloaking device on it; I'm not sure."

Just then Data's voice came on Captain Picard's commlink. "Sir, we have loaded the explosives onto the shuttlecraft. However, I have noticed what appears to be a small enemy ship heading straight for the cargo bay."

"We are aware of this, Commander Data. Hold your ground—we'll send in reinforcements."

As Captain Picard spoke, the Imperial shuttlecraft landed in the cargo bay just as Han, Luke, and Data finished placing the last crate in their shuttlecraft. The doors started to open, and though Data didn't know what was in store, Luke and Han knew that stormtroopers would soon start pouring out.

"Looks like we have company," Han growled, reaching for his blaster—and realizing in horror that there was no blaster in the holster. Then he remembered—Captain Picard had told him that their foreign weapons belonged in the weapons locker for the safety of the crew of the Enterprise.

Luke had realized this too as he had no lightsaber to defend himself with. However, Luke had the Force by his side—though he didn't really want to show this in front of Data. He had wanted desperately to keep his other powers as a Jedi secret from the Enterprise crew. But he realized he just may have to use them.

As the door to the shuttlecraft opened, at least two dozen stormtroopers rushed out and started firing on the three. Luke and Han had no time to tell Data that they were weaponless, and they were thrown into the heat of the battle. Data began firing his phaser almost mechanically, downing several stormtroopers in under a minute. Han and Luke, however, having no weapons, were forced to dodge their attacks the best they could. Luke stuck to the corner, trying to be unseen and dodging the blasters. Despite his efforts, he felt his arms burn as his skin was grazed by blasterfire. He gritted his teeth against the pain and tried to slowly creep towards the door as the stormtroopers threatened to mow him down.

Han, meanwhile, was doing his best to knock one of the blasters out of the stormtrooper's hands, or even pick one of the stray blasters that was lying on the floor. He figured it was his best bet—after all, once he got a hands on a blaster, he would be more than useful until reinforcements arrived. With a blaster in his hands, Han would be able to hold his ground. There was nothing more comforting for Han than a blaster in his hand, defending himself and shooting down those who had screwed with him.

As he bent down trying to pick up a blaster, however, he was hit by blaster fire from the stormtroopers—several times. "I've been hit! I've been hit!" he shouted, as he practically collapsed onto the floor. Almost immediately, two stormtroopers roughly grabbed him by the armpits. "You're coming with us," one of the stormtroopers said, though his words were barely audible over the sound of blaster fire. They began to frogmarch him to the Imperial shuttlecraft. As Han was dazed from the several shots into his back, he could barely struggle against them.

Data, across the cargo bay and trying to hold his own ground, heard Han's cry for help, but could do nothing. As an android, his focus was on the job at hand, and though he wished he could save Han, he calculated that if he tried to go over there, he would be 20.4 seconds too late to help Han Solo in his predicament. Data turned his head and refocused on blasting down stormtroopers.

Luke saw what was going on. He watched almost helplessly as two stormtroopers started to drag Han towards the shuttlecraft. "Han!" he cried. Luke decided that now was the best time to try—he mustered all he could from the Force, and managed to knock several of the stormtroopers into the wall, where they collapsed on the floor.

Luckily for Luke and Data, just as the two were about completely overwhelmed, the reinforcements that Captain Picard promised ran into the room and eliminated the rest of the stormtroopers easily. Unfortunately, the reinforcements were a little too late. As the Enterprise crewmembers fired on the last of the stormtroopers, the door to the shuttlecraft closed and it left the cargo bay with Han Solo inside, no doubt heading back to the Star Destroyer.

"Data! Status report!" Picard demanded.

"Sir, they have all been eliminated, but I believe Captain Solo has been captured and taken on the enemy shuttlecraft."

Sure enough, the Empirial shuttlecraft came into the view of the Enterprise's viewscreen. "There is the shuttlecraft that entered the cargo bay," Worf stated. "Shall I fire?"

"No! They've captured Captain Solo. Allow the ship to leave. Data, remotely send out our shuttlecraft and time it to explode in twenty minutes."

"Aknowledged, sir."

"Any injuries down there, Commander Data?"

"Luke has minor injuries, sir. I will escort him to sickbay at once."

Picard nodded. "Commander LaForge, is the warp core still online and functioning?"

"Yes, sir. We can only manage a Warp 2, though."

"Lieutenant Worf, prepare the ship to engage back into the nebula. Warp 2."

"But Captain! What about Han? We can't just leave him there!" Leia protested.

Captain Picard looked at her with regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Princess," he said firmly. "There is nothing more we can do at this moment." He stared at the viewscreen. "Engage," he ordered.

He glared at Leia, Chewbacca, and the droids. Chewbacca howled mournfully. "As for you three, get off my bridge and return to your quarters."

…

In Sickbay, Lieutenant Commander Data led Luke to Doctor Crusher. As Luke sat down on a bed in Sickbay, Doctor Crusher scanned Luke's arm with a tool. "What are his injuries?" she asked Data.

"Some minor blasterfire burns, Doctor," Luke replied before Data could start speaking. "Nothing serious, it should heal in a few days, give or take."

Doctor Crusher nodded with concern. "That's nothing a hypospray can't fix," she said. Walking over to a supply bin, she picked up a strange looking tool that must have been the hypospray and injected it into Luke. It didn't hurt—on the contrary, Luke felt a numb, cooling sensation. When he looked at his arm, the redness and swelling of the burns was gone.

"Yes, it really does work that quickly," Doctor Crusher laughed, noticing Luke's look of shock. She gave the same treatment to his other arm, and then declared he was good to go.

Luke and Data solemnly walked out of Sickbay. There was a long pause as the two walked, Luke's pace heavy and sorrowful. They had lost Han... The mission was a failure, and they would never reach Hoth now... At this point, Luke doubted Picard's willingness to go back and rescue Han. Even though the _Millennium Falcon _was fixed and ready to go, Luke wasn't sure if he could pilot the thing. And if Luke did successfully pilot it, there was no way they could successfully rescue Han without the help of the _Enterprise_ crew.

"I am sorry, Luke."

Luke looked up, his thoughts broken by the even voice of the android. "Um, what?"

"I am sorry I could not save your friend." Even though Data had no emotions, he could see that Luke was very upset over what had happened. As was the human way, he thought that it would be sufficient to apologize. Though technically, it wasn't his fault, as there was no way he could have saved Han. But he had seen some of the crewmembers apologize for things that had not been their fault either, such as malfunctionings of the ship.

"Hey, it's not your fault," Luke said, looking up at the android. "But thanks. That was some really rough stuff back there." He thought about his and Han's lack of weapons. "Wait a minute... It's actually _Captain Picard's _fault for what happened!" he exclaimed. "We lost Han because we both had no weapons. We didn't have any weapons because Captain Picard ordered that we keep our weapons in the locker." His brows furrowed in anger. "I'm going to have a word or two with him!"

"Luke, I suggest you do not speak ill of Captain Picard. He is the chief commanding officer, and his word is the highest command. He ordered your crew to keep your weapons away because of their danger."

"Yeah, but you have a weapon! A laser gun, I saw it!" Luke was furious.

"Starfleet officers are required to carry a phaser at all times. That is protocol." Data could say nothing more on the matter. Though he knew that Picard had not been very wise in not issuing Luke and Han weapons, he could not speak against his captain.

"Well, I will have several words with him," he fumed, but said nothing further. He didn't want to argue with his friend—Captain Picard was the real cause of this. Changing the subject, he asked, "I was wondering; how did you carry those crates so easily? They were extremely heavy."

"When I was created, I was given superhuman strength," Data explained. "I am also quite bullet proof, as well as laser proof," he stated, pointing to his scorched uniform. There were no burn marks underneath it, and Luke had wondered why Doctor Crusher hadn't used her hypospray on him too. After all, Threepio wasn't blaster-proof.

"Now I have a question for you, Luke," Data stated. "How did you move those stormtroopers against the wall with your hand? It is not plausible that you used wind, as there was no wind inside the cargo bay."

Luke had wondered if the android was going to ask him that. "It's really hard to explain. It's called the Force."

"Could you please tell me further? I am most curious as to what—"

Just then Captain Picard's irritated voice crackled on Data's commlink. "Commander Data, has Luke Skywalker returned to his quarters?"

"No, I am escorting him there as we speak, Captain."

Picard did not acknowledge this. "Commander Data, there will be a senior officer's debriefing at 2000 hours. I would like to speak to Mr. Skywalker and possibly the other crewmembers of the _Falcon _immediately afterwards, at about 2100 hours."

"Acknowledged, Captain." Data shut off his commlink, and the two walked in silence for several moments until they reached Luke's quarters.

"I guess I'll see you later," Luke said, anger and sadness mingled on his face. The door slid shut behind him.

Data walked to his own quarters, quite dumbfounded by the battle and the results of it. Had he possessed feelings, he surely would have shown frustration by the outcome of it all. However, he simply tried to configure the outcome of the Captain's meeting with Luke. Given the situation, he calculated that there would be an 89.94 percent chance that there would be some intense yelling during the session.

As he walked in the door, his cat Spot greeted him, rubbing against his legs. Data bent down and petted it, still wondering what the outcome of all this would be.

**To Be Continued...**


End file.
